Image capturing apparatus, image capturing method, and computer program product

Abstract

Provided is an image capturing apparatus capable of outputting an image in a form displayable by a display apparatus, while making use of a space resolution and a temporal resolution of a captured image. A monitoring system includes an image capturing section that captures an image; an output image generating section that generates an output image from the image captured by the image capturing section; a matching determining section that determines whether an object that matches a predetermined condition exists in the image captured by the image capturing section; and an output section that outputs, by embedding in the output image, an image of a subject indicated by the object having a data amount larger than a data amount of an image of the object in the output image.

1. An image capturing apparatus comprising:
 an image capturing section that captures an image; 
 an output image generating section that generates a small data amount image by reducing a data amount from the image captured by the image capturing section; 
 a matching determining section that determines whether an object that matches a predetermined condition exists in the image captured by the image capturing section; 
 an output section that outputs, via a transmission path to a display control apparatus provided outside of the image capturing apparatus, by embedding in the small data amount image, an image of a subject indicated by the object having a data amount larger than a data amount of an image of the object in the small data amount image, when the matching determining section has determined that an object that matches the condition exists; 
 an object region specifying section that, when the matching determining section has determined that an object that matches the condition exists, specifies an object region including the object that matches the condition, in the image captured by the image capturing section; 
 a frequency component calculating section that calculates a space frequency component of each of a plurality of regions in the image captured by the image capturing section; and 
 an embedded region specifying section that specifies, as an embedded region, a region having a frequency component lower than a predetermined value in a predetermined frequency region from among the plurality of regions in the image captured by the image capturing section, based on the space frequency component calculated by the frequency component calculating section, 
 wherein 
 the output image generating section includes: 
 a small data amount image generating section that generates the small data amount image by reducing the data amount of the image captured by the image capturing section, and 
 the output section, when the matching determining section has determined that an object that matches the condition exists, embeds the image of the object region in the image captured by the image capturing section to the small data amount image, and outputs the embedded result, 
 wherein the output section, when the matching determining section has determined that an object that matches the condition exists, embeds the image of the object region to the small data amount image generated by the small data amount image generating section, by means of digital watermarking, and outputs the embedded result, and wherein 
 the output section, when the matching determining section has determined that an object that matches the condition exists, embeds the image of the object region to the embedded region of the small data amount image generated by the small data amount image generating section, by means of digital watermarking, and outputs the embedded result. 
 
     
     
       2. The image capturing apparatus as set forth in  claim 1 ,
 wherein 
 the small data amount image generating section generates a low image quality image by reducing an image quality of the image captured by the image capturing section, and 
 the output section, when the matching determining section has determined that an object that matches the condition exists, embeds the image of the object region in the image captured by the image capturing section to the low image quality image generated by the small data amount image generating section, and outputs the embedded result. 
 
     
     
       3. The image capturing apparatus as set forth in  claim 2 , wherein
 the small data amount image generating section generates a low gray scale image by reducing a gray scale of the image captured by the image capturing section, and 
 the output section, when the matching determining section has determined that an object that matches the condition exists, embeds the image of the object region in the image captured by the image capturing section to the low gray scale image generated by the small data amount image generating section, and outputs the embedded result. 
 
     
     
       4. The image capturing apparatus as set forth in  claim 2 , wherein
 the small data amount image generating section generates a low resolution image by reducing a resolution of the image captured by the image capturing section, and 
 the output section, when the matching determining section has determined that an object that matches the condition exists, embeds the image of the object region in the image captured by the image capturing section to the low resolution image generated by the small data amount image generating section, and outputs the embedded result. 
 
     
     
       5. The image capturing apparatus as set forth in  claim 4 , wherein
 the small data amount image generating section generates the low resolution image by thinning out pixels from the image captured by the image capturing section. 
 
     
     
       6. The image capturing apparatus as set forth in  claim 1 ,
 wherein 
 the image capturing section captures a motion image, 
 the small data amount image generating section generates a low display rate motion image by reducing a display rate of the motion image captured by the image capturing section, 
 the matching determining section determines whether an object that matches a predetermined condition exists in the motion image captured by the image capturing section, 
 the object region specifying section, when the matching determining section has determined that an object that matches the condition exists, specifies an object region including the object that matches the condition, and 
 the output section, when the matching determining section has determined that an object that matches the condition exists, embeds a motion image of the object region in the motion image captured by the image capturing section to the low display rate motion image generated by the small data amount image generating section, and outputs the embedded result. 
 
     
     
       7. The image capturing apparatus as set forth in  claim 6 , wherein
 the image capturing section captures a motion image containing a plurality of images, by successively capturing the plurality of images, 
 the small data amount image generating section generates a low display rate motion image by reducing a display rate of the motion image captured by the image capturing section, by thinning out a plurality of images included in the motion image captured by the image capturing section, 
 the matching determining section determines whether an object that matches a predetermined condition exists in the images thinned out by the small data amount image generating section, 
 the object region specifying section, when the matching determining section has determined that an object that matches the condition exists, specifies an object region including the object that matches the condition, and 
 the output section, when the matching determining section has determined that an object that matches the condition exists, embeds a region image of the object region included in the images thinned out by the small data amount image generating section, to the image included in the low display rate motion image generated by the small data amount image generating section, and outputs the embedded result. 
 
     
     
       8. The image capturing apparatus as set forth in  claim 1 ,
 wherein 
 the image capturing section successively captures an image of a data amount larger than a permissible data amount permitted to be outputted to an output destination of the output section per unit time, 
 the small data amount image generating section generates a small data amount image of a data amount smaller than the permissible data amount, by reducing a data amount of the image captured by the image capturing section, and 
 the output section, when the matching determining section has determined that an object that matches the condition exists, embeds the image of the object region to the small data amount image generated by the small data amount image generating section, and outputs the embedded result, and when the matching determining section has determined that an object that matches the condition does not exist, outputs the small data amount image generated by the small data amount image generating section. 
 
     
     
       9. The image capturing apparatus as set forth in  claim 1 , further comprising:
 a condition storing section that stores, in advance, a condition which an object should match, wherein 
 the matching determining section determines whether an object that matches the condition stored in the condition storing section exists in the image captured by the image capturing section. 
 
     
     
       10. The image capturing apparatus as set forth in  claim 9 , wherein
 the condition storing section stores a lower limit value of a form matching level between a predetermined object and a matching object, and 
 the matching determining section determines whether an object that has a matching level that is more than or equal to the lower limit value of the form matching level with respect to the predetermined object exists in the image captured by the image capturing section. 
 
     
     
       11. The image capturing apparatus as set forth in  claim 9 , wherein
 the condition storing section stores a lower limit value of a color area included in a predetermined color range which a matching object should have, and 
 the matching determining section determines whether an object whose color area included in the predetermined color range is more than or equal to the lower limit value of the color area exists in the image captured by the image capturing section. 
 
     
     
       12. The image capturing apparatus as set forth in  claim 9 , wherein
 the condition storing section stores a lower limit value of a motion amount which a matching object should have, and 
 the matching determining section determines whether an object whose motion amount is more than or equal to the lower limit value of the motion amount exists in the image captured by the image capturing section. 
 
     
     
       13. The image capturing apparatus as set forth in  claim 1 ,
 further comprising: 
 an embedded image obtaining section that, when the matching determining section has determined that an object that matches the condition exists, obtains an image of a subject that has a data amount larger than a data amount of the image of the object that matches the condition and is indicated by the object that matches the condition, wherein 
 the output section, when the matching determining section has determined that an object that matches the condition exists, embeds the image obtained by the embedded image obtaining section to the image captured by the image capturing section, and outputs the embedded result. 
 
     
     
       14. The image capturing apparatus as set forth in  claim 13 , further comprising:
 an embedded image capturing section that, when the matching determining section has determined that an object that matches the condition exists, captures an image of a subject that has a data amount larger than a data amount of the image of the object that matches the condition and is indicated by the object that matches the condition, wherein 
 the embedded image obtaining section, when the matching determining section has determined that an object that matches the condition exists, obtains the image captured by the embedded image capturing section. 
 
     
     
       15. The image capturing apparatus as set forth in  claim 13 , wherein
 the embedded image obtaining section, when the matching determining section has determined that an object that matches the condition exists, obtains an image of a subject that has an image quality higher than an image quality of an image of the object that matches the condition and is indicated by the object that matches the condition. 
 
     
     
       16. An image capturing apparatus comprising:
 an image capturing section that captures an image; 
 an output image generating section that generates a small data amount image by reducing a data amount from the image captured by the image capturing section; 
 a matching determining section that determines whether an object that matches a predetermined condition exists in the image captured by the image capturing section; 
 an output section that outputs, via a transmission path to a display control apparatus provided outside of the image capturing apparatus, by embedding in the small data amount image, an image of a subject indicated by the object having a data amount larger than a data amount of an image of the object in the small data amount image, when the matching determining section has determined that an object that matches the condition exists; 
 an object region specifying section that, when the matching determining section has determined that an object that matches the condition exists, specifies an object region including the object that matches the condition, in the image captured by the image capturing section; and 
 a size calculating section that, when the matching determining section has determined that an object that matches the condition exists, calculates a size of the object, 
 wherein 
 the output image generating section includes: 
 a small data amount image generating section that generates the small data amount image by reducing the data amount of the image captured by the image capturing section, and 
 the output section, when the matching determining section has determined that an object that matches the condition exists, embeds the image of the object region in the image captured by the image capturing section to the small data amount image, and outputs the embedded result, 
 wherein the object region specifying section, when the matching determining section has determined that an object that matches the condition exists, and when the size calculated by the size calculating section is smaller than a predetermined value, specifies an object region including the object that matches the condition, and 
 the output section, when the matching determining section has determined that an object that matches the condition exists, on condition that the size calculated by the size calculating section is smaller than a predetermined value, embeds the image of the object region in the image captured by the image capturing section to the small data amount image generated by the small data amount image generating section, and outputs the embedded result. 
 
     
     
       17. An image capturing apparatus comprising:
 an image capturing section that captures an image; 
 an output image generating section that generates a small data amount image by reducing a data amount from the image captured by the image capturing section; 
 a matching determining section that determines whether an object that matches a predetermined condition exists in the image captured by the image capturing section; 
 an output section that outputs, via a transmission path to a display control apparatus provided outside of the image capturing apparatus, by embedding in the small data amount image, an image of a subject indicated by the object having a data amount larger than a data amount of an image of the object in the small data amount image, when the matching determining section has determined that an object that matches the condition exists; 
 an object region specifying section that, when the matching determining section has determined that an object that matches the condition exists, specifies an object region including the object that matches the condition, in the image captured by the image capturing section; and 
 an embedded image generating section that, when the matching determining section has determined that an object that matches the condition exists, generates a plurality of embedded images, by dividing the image of the object region in the image captured by the image capturing section into a plurality of partial regions, 
 wherein 
 the output image generating section includes: 
 a small data amount image generating section that generates the small data amount image by reducing the data amount of the image captured by the image capturing section, and 
 the output section, when the matching determining section has determined that an object that matches the condition exists, embeds the image of the object region in the image captured by the image capturing section to the small data amount image, and outputs the embedded result, 
 wherein 
 the image capturing section successively captures a plurality of images, 
 the small data amount image generating section generates a plurality of small data amount images by reducing a data amount of each of the plurality of images captured by the image capturing section, and 
 the output section, when the matching determining section has determined that an object that matches the condition exists, embeds the image of the object region in the images thinned out by the small data amount image generating section, a) to the small data amount image generated from the image in which an object that matches the condition is determined to exist has been captured, or b) to the small data amount image generated from an image captured by the image capturing section after the image in which an object that matches the condition is determined to exist has been captured and outputs the embedded result, and 
 wherein the output section, when the matching determining section has determined that an object that matches the condition exists, embeds the plurality of embedded images generated by the embedded image generating section to the plurality of small data amount images generated by the small data amount image generating section and outputs the embedded result. 
 
     
     
       18. The image capturing apparatus as set forth in  claim 17 , wherein
 the embedded image generating section generates the plurality of embedded images by dividing the image of the object region into a plurality of partial regions, so that a data amount of the image outputted by the output section is smaller than a permissible data amount permitted to be outputted by the output section. 
 
     
     
       19. An image capturing apparatus comprising:
 an image capturing section that captures an image; 
 an output image generating section that generates a small data amount image by reducing a data amount from the image captured by the image capturing section; 
 a matching determining section that determines whether an object that matches a predetermined condition exists in the image captured by the image capturing section; 
 an output section that outputs, via a transmission path to a display control apparatus provided outside of the image capturing apparatus, by embedding in the small data amount image, an image of a subject indicated by the object having a data amount larger than a data amount of an image of the object in the small data amount image, when the matching determining section has determined that an object that matches the condition exists; 
 an object region specifying section that, when the matching determining section has determined that an object that matches the condition exists, specifies an object region including the object that matches the condition, in the image captured by the image capturing section; and 
 an embedded image generating section that generates a plurality of images having a different image quality from each other depending on an object feature type, by converting each image of the plurality of object regions in the image captured by the image capturing section, to an image of an image quality in accordance with the type of the feature of an object included in each of the plurality of object regions, 
 wherein 
 the output image generating section includes: 
 a small data amount image generating section that generates the small data amount image by reducing the data amount of the image captured by the image capturing section, and 
 the output section, when the matching determining section has determined that an object that matches the condition exists, embeds the image of the object region in the image captured by the image capturing section to the small data amount image, and Outputs the embedded result, 
 wherein the object region specifying section, when the matching determining section has determined that a plurality of objects that match the condition exist, specifies a plurality of object regions that respectively include the plurality of objects that match the condition, and 
 wherein the output section, when the matching determining section has determined that a plurality of objects that match the condition exist, embeds the plurality of images generated by the embedded image generating section to the small data amount image generated by the small data amount image generating section, and outputs the embedded result. 
 
     
     
       20. The image capturing apparatus as set forth in  claim 19 , further comprising:
 a difference image generating section that generates a difference image between each of the plurality of images generated by the embedded image generating section and the image of the object region in the small data amount image generated by the small data amount image generating section, wherein 
 the output section, when the matching determining section has determined that a plurality of objects that match the condition exist, embeds a plurality of difference images generated by the difference image generating section to the small data amount image generated by the small data amount image generating section and outputs the embedded result. 
 
     
     
       21. An image capturing apparatus comprising:
 an image capturing section that captures an image; 
 an output image generating section that generates a small data amount image by reducing a data amount from the image captured by the image capturing section; 
 a matching determining section that determines whether an object that matches a predetermined condition exists in the image captured by the image capturing section; 
 an output section that outputs, via a transmission path to a display control apparatus provided outside of the image capturing apparatus, by embedding in the small data amount image, an image of a subject indicated by the object having a data amount larger than a data amount of an image of the object in the small data amount image, when the matching determining section has determined that an object that matches the condition exists; 
 an object region specifying section that, when the matching determining section has determined that an object that matches the condition exists, specifies an object region including the object that matches the condition, in the image captured by the image capturing section; and 
 a difference image generating section that generates a difference image between an image of the object region in the image captured by the image capturing section and an image of the object region in the small data amount image generated by the small data amount image generating section, 
 wherein 
 the output image generating section includes: 
 a small data amount image generating section that generates the small data amount image by reducing the data amount of the image captured by the image capturing section, and 
 the output section, when the matching determining section has determined that an object that matches the condition exists, embeds the image of the object region in the image captured by the image capturing section to the small data amount image, and outputs the embedded result, and 
 wherein the output section, when the matching determining section has determined that an object that matches the condition exists, embeds the difference image generated by the difference image generating section to the small data amount image generated by the small data amount image generating section and outputs the embedded result. 
 
     
     
       22. An image capturing method comprising:
 an image capturing step of capturing an image; 
 an output image generating step of generating a small data amount image by reducing a data amount from the image captured in the image capturing step; 
 a matching determining step of determining whether an object that matches a predetermined condition exists in the image captured in the image capturing step; 
 an output step of outputting, via a transmission path to a display control apparatus provided outside of an image capturing apparatus, by embedding in the small data amount image, an image of a subject indicated by the object having a data amount larger than a data amount of an image of the object in the small data amount image, when an object that matches the condition is determined to exist in the matching determining step; 
 an object region specifying step of specifying, when the matching determining step has determined that an object that matches the condition exists, that an object region including the object that matches the condition in the image captured by the image capturing step; 
 a frequency component calculating step of calculating a space frequency component of each of a plurality of regions in the image captured by the image capturing step; and 
 an embedded region specifying step of specifying, as an embedded region, a region having a frequency component lower than a predetermined value in a predetermined frequency region from among the plurality of regions in the image captured by the image capturing step, based on the space frequency component calculated by the frequency component calculating step, 
 wherein 
 the output image generating step includes: 
 a small data amount image generating step of generating the small data amount image by reducing the data amount of the image captured by the image capturing step, and 
 the output step, when the matching determining step has determined that an object that matches the condition exists, embeds the image of the object region in the image captured by the image capturing step to the small data amount image, and outputs the embedded result, 
 wherein the output step, when the matching determining step has determined that an object that matches the condition exists, embeds the image of the object region to the small data amount image generated by the small data amount image generating step, by means of digital watermarking, and outputs the embedded result, and 
 wherein the output step, when the matching determining step has determined that an object that matches the condition exists, embeds the image of the object region to the embedded region of the small data amount image generated by the small data amount image generating step, by means of digital watermarking, and outputs the embedded result. 
 
     
     
       23. A non-transitory computer readable medium containing executable instructions, wherein the instructions cause a processor to
 capture an image; 
 generate a small data amount image by reducing a data amount from the captured image; 
 determine whether an object that matches a predetermined condition exists in the captured image; 
 output, via a transmission path to a display control apparatus provided outside of an image capturing apparatus, by embedding in the small data amount image, an image of a subject indicated by the object having a data amount larger than a data amount of an image of the object in the small data amount image, when it is determined that an object that matches the condition exists; 
 specify, when said determining step has determined that an object that matches the condition exists, that an object region including the object that matches the condition, in the captured image; 
 calculate a space frequency component of each of a plurality of regions in the captured image captured; and 
 specify, as an embedded region, a region having a frequency component lower than a predetermined value in a predetermined frequency region from among the plurality of regions in the captured image, based on the space frequency component calculated by the calculating step, 
 wherein 
 the generating step generates the small data amount image by reducing the data amount of the captured image, and 
 the outputting step, when the determining step has determined that an object that matches the condition exists, embeds the image of the object region in the captured image to the small data amount image, and outputs the embedded result, 
 wherein the outputting step, when the determining step has determined that an object that matches the condition exists, embeds the image of the object region to the small data amount image generated by the generating step, by means of digital watermarking, and outputs the embedded result, and 
 wherein the outputting step, when the determining step has determined that an object that matches the condition exists, embeds the image of the object region to the embedded region of the small data amount image generated by generating step, by means of digital watermarking, and outputs the embedded result.